Who is this person, you may ask. 2 books read and both reviewed. Well, I can’t promise to continue this way, but I do want to review more books this year, and this is a netgalley read I wanted to get to for a while. So thanks to Netgalley and Titan books for gifting me a copy in exchange for an honest review.
One of the first things that grabbed me about Where the Dead Brides Gather is that it is a possession horror story but based on Nigerian folklore. I’ve not read any Nigerian folklore tales before, and I love reading folklore stories, so I was very excited to jump into this.
This story is about Bata, a 10 year old girl who is plagued by nightmares for as long as she can remember, until one day she is possessed and discovers that the spirits have a different plan for her. She is to become bride sentinel, protecting human brides from evil ghost Brides trying to ruin their day or worse, kill them. What follows is Bata’s journey to a realm called Ibaja-la, where she meets many good-hearted bride ghosts waiting for their time to experience their wedding day and be reincarnated. But across from here is the Wastelands, an island which holds the evil bride spirits who are waiting to take their revenge.
I really enjoyed this story. It was the perfect mix of ghosts, possession, and folklore, which made the story immersive and intriguing. I wouldn’t say it is scary or particularly creepy, but there were moments of darkness and tension that added to the overall gothic feel of the book.
I enjoyed the variety of personalities of the story from your vain and selfish, 2nd wife, Ola to the playful, adorable triplets known only as Ejima. Then you have the medicine man who plays a big role in all this as he helps the family overcome some of the hurdles.
But the star of the show, the protagonist, Bata, has the most interesting story arc. As a young, innocent 10 year old girl she is suddenly thrust into this ghost world where she must get to grips with death, tragedy, murder, suicide and everything in between as she learns about the ghost Brides stories and why they are each there. This would be an emotional job for an adult, but for a child who hasn’t even started puberty yet this would be a confusing, stressful task. But she accepts the role she has been assigned and carries it out to the best of her ability. Once assigned the role of bride sentinel, we see a bigger change in her as she slowly becomes more introverted to avoid certain aspects of her to be revealed.
There were so many areas of this novel I found greatly intriguing but the best one was meeting the great spirit and guardian Mmuo- Ka Mmuo who becomes Bata’s guide through this process and almost becomes a mother figure to her in the spirit world.
This is a story of death, possession , and also one of acceptance, growth, and grief. It is a rollercoaster of emotions, and the story is a wonderfully robust tale of not only one girl’s difficult journey but also of her family’s own hurdles they too must overcome.
If you are looking for a fascinating tale on death, grief, and the afterlife, I would highly recommend this.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ – a dark, gripping Nigerian folklore tale that will keep you hooked until the last page.
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